Popular nasal decongestant doesn’t actually relieve congestion, FDA advisers say
The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient.
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against the effectiveness of the key drug found in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil and other medications stocked on store shelves.
“Modern studies, when well conducted, are not showing any improvement in congestion with phenylephrine,” said Dr. Mark Dykewicz, an allergy specialist at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
The FDA assembled its outside advisers to take another look at phenylephrine, which became the main drug in over-the-counter decongestants when medicines with an older ingredient — pseudoephedrine — were moved behind pharmacy counters. A 2006 law had forced the move because pseudoephedrine can be illegally processed into methamphetamine.
I actually worked at a pharmacy here in Sydney briefly back in 2000. Most of my work was actually packing medications for the unfortunate residents of various nursing homes around town and we didn’t do much walk-up traffic (there was another pharmacy up that did the normal daily pharmacy business), but we got a few people rocking up and I do recall at least one instance of someone coming in to buy REAL Sudafed, and that person had to have their details recorded in order to do so. That was, as I indicated, some years before the US evidently decided the meth risk was too great, we were actually way ahead of them there, and meth is still a problem anyway. Needless to say, the news that phenylephrine is comparatively useless should only come as a surprise to those of us who’ve never had a cold…
